The Octavia certainly looks nice, but will have lots of tough competition in its segment.

Norm

You could have put the last line first and saved yourself 10 seconds.

Devil666

Please god will people buy these over Camrys!!!!

Angelica

These aren’t in the same class as the Camry (or 6, Mondeo, Passat, i40, which are all part of the same class as the Camry).

Captain Nemo®™

“Diesel lacks refinement” all VeeDud diesels are unrefined they sound like a bag of bolts in a clothes dryer. should rename it “Crapid”

Golfmother

Looks more modern than the daewoo crude and fitted with class leading diesel , magic interior , looks very refined , no starwars dashes for the VAG group , no doubt quality written all over it , another winner .

Phil

Not according to the review, which says the “diesel lacks refinement” and that it features a “bland interior and dated features”.

Cerny Eduard

Review=>one person’s opinion based on couple of web pictures and overseas specs

Applies to any brand reviews

4D3

I’d rather trust the review than Golfmother’s opinion, which is widely known to be biased.

Golfmother

Interior looks usual VAG , no holden type plastics , Diesels are all generic VAG so no different to Seat , VW etc , maybe noisier on the inside as skoda use less sound insulation that VW .

Phil

No ‘Holden type plastics’? What does that even mean and what has Holden got to do with this article? Regardless, the reviewer even states that there is plenty of hard plastics through and through. Also, noise levels are only one aspect of diesel refinement and the review even describes the diesel as being less well matched to the transmission than the petrol models and “far from refined at idle”, “laggy” and having “odd gearing”. That’s more than just noise insulation issues. The engine may be shared with other VAG models, but the transmission is the diesel models downfall.

Zaccy16

he means that the cruze and every other holden on sale have rubbish interiors

twincharger

Give it up golfmother,no way you can out debate Phil.

Phil

@Zaccy16:disqus But how does that have anything to do with this review? It’s just a cheap stab at Holden and just reflects on how classless and low Golfmother’s behaviour can truly steep.

Captain Nemo®™

Don’t have to be inside Bungle you can be 20mtrs away and you can still hear that bag-o-bolts in a clothes dryer VeeDud diesel.

Golfmother

Yer take a listen to a crude ss it rattles down the road .

Norm

The 1.4 in this light little car will be a great combo.

Light cars with gutsy motors is always a compelling formula.It’s a very basic little car. Nothing wrong with that. If the price reflects it and you drive a manual then happy days.Wagon?

Hung Low

That dash is straight out of a beige 80’s GH Sigma and what is so class leading about a huge 77kw diesel?

Trickster

It’s called Torque. Drive any modern day Turbo Diesel and you’ll see

Robin_Graves

Looks very refined against a ’98 Toyota Avalon they stole the grill from. Toyotas look way more contemporary than these yawnmobiles, cardigan wearers have a new hero car, I hope they come in champagne gold.

Trickster

Depends on which diesel motor in the range you are talking about. The 2.0 TDi in my Octavia RS sounds nothing like a tractor, but the 1.9 TDi in lower spec Octavia’s are noisy. In fact the VW 2.0 TDi is way less rattly than the Ford’s 2.0 TDi found in Focus & Mondeo’s and the Merc C200 Diesel

Adf

looks a bit boring and bland. heck even the blandest of bland toyota camry looks more exciting than this

Norm

OPSM

Daniel

I don’t quite understand where this is meant to fit in the model range? It’s basically the same size as the Octavia and it is the same body style, but it’s not replacing it, so it’s in between the Fabia and the Octavia…but that means that the difference between the Rapid and the Octavia will be like the difference between a size 9 and a size 10 shoe. Also, though it does look good, it looks so similar to how the current Octavia looked before it’s facelift. I’m no Skoda basher, but this is a pretty boring and dull looking little car and I simply don’t get the point of it. It’s not even as if it’ll be that cheap.

Hung Low

The new Octavia will almost be Passat sized, this will sit below it. This should be priced at 18k on road.

Daniel

You can’t even get a Fabia on the road for $18k, so I doubt that. I know Skoda’s intentions are always to be a lower priced Volkswagen, but it never actually happens. And Passat sized maybe, but it will remain a Golf competitor. The Superb is the Passat competitor. Skoda’s sizing and range compared to other brands is a bit confusing, none the less, those are they classes they intend their particular cars to be in.

O123

New octavia will be camry sized, rapid is corolla sized

3D4

Next gen octavia will be simply bigger than current model. That should make enough space for Rapid.

Agree, the Fabio is overpriced and mega fugly, nobody wants the gamble. This should do better than the Fabio, I mean it is not exactly difficult to produce a better looker than the Fabio.

Zaccy16

polo looks much better than the fabia and has a better interior

Golfmother

Or worse still the the barina spark , makes the fabia look stunning .

Hung Low

I shamefully have to agree with you there Bungle.

Golfmother

Salute .

Zaccy16

yep the fabia is a buggati veyron compared to the spark!

Huwtm

Oh, what an easy target. That’s like standing next to a fat person to look skinny.

Bunga

In Europe, the outdated Octavias are sold alongside new Octavias. Those outdated are available only in basic specs and for far less money and sell too well for Škoda to leave this market. Only this time Octavia 2 won’t be sold alongside Octavia 3, and this market will be left to Rapid. Rapid is basically Octavia 1 refurbished to 2012.

3D4

Exactly right..

VOLKSWAGENSUX

The front looks like the 1994 Toyita Avalon

The rear looks like an ugly duckling

Latin Fish Names

This looks very clean, bordering on boring (some would say boring). I don’t mind its understated looks, great fuel economy and massive boot. The concerns I have are that the petrol engines should be run on 98, you can run them on 95, but only occasionally… this is a pain in the arse. The other concern is how will this be priced? Currently, VWs are better buying with a known resale. Still, I think this will be a game changer for Skoda in Australia.

Luke

Agreed, this will perhaps be the first Skoda model to come here, not in the middle of the model’s lifecycle.

Aus_poppa

One would hope that Skoda Australia had learned the lesson – manual diesels are not enough – there have to be autos – people here are not concerned with absolute economy, either of initial price or running costs as they are in Europe where the tax regimes favour low CO2 emissions. Here the economy of an auto diesel is sufficient – and VW itself has proved this by offering lots of diesel autos, and selling heaps.

Here the contest is apples against apples – auto petrol against auto diesel. Bring a single manual diesel if you want economy bragging rights, but don’t expect to sell more than a handful.

Jerry14

Clap…Clap…Clap. Skoda once again prove that VW interiors can be made to be even more bland and boring.

GregR

Some of us are bland and boring and we like bland and boring cars to compliment our bland and boring clothes and our bland and boring homes. We prefer not to have body adornments, tattoos etc and the less glitz and tat in our homes the better and more comfortable we feel.
My point is that, thankfully, we are all different and those who prefer ‘shiny’ and ‘showy’ should not perhaps buy european, but stick to cars built in America and certain parts of the east.
Oh. and I like this car.

Golfmother

I call it ergonomically sound middle european , it all falls to hand easily , no seaching required , no shiny tinsel to distract your main purpose which is to travel safely .

Hung Low

Been there mate and have driven the RS diesel too, not a bad unit pity about the rubbish dsg behind it. But the claim made here is about the ageing 77kw oiler being class leading.

Jerrycan

The current Golf Mk 4 based Octavia, is a strong but relatively complicated structure to manufacture with a large number of welding points.
The new Rapid is an updated version using advanced and simplified manufacturing techniques, making it both lighter and stronger and most importantly cheaper.
I believe the rear suspension is also a simplified torsion bar system, which is cheaper (lighter?) and less intrusive. Reports on ride/handling suggest little change from the excellent but more complex multi-link system.
Conservative styling, should provide good external visibilty, excellent internal space, reasonable performance and better than average ride/handling.
The price could be very cheap but is unlikely based on Skoda’s previous Australian pricing policy.
The only downsides are: premium petrol requirement, questions about DSG reliability.
A diesel manual Rapid could be the ideal replacement for our existing 5 year old 70k Octavia 1.9d manual wagon which has been faultless except for the replacement of a steering lock under warranty.

Golfmother

Jerry i am pretty sure the current octavia is mk5 based ,hence the complexity , the rapid is a mix of latest polo/fabia , size wise is pretty close to current octavia , new model on the MBQ platform and much bigger .

Bent6brigade

Skoda is really struggling in Australia.This car is well priced but very rough around the edges.

Captain Nemo®™

Exactly well said mate.
Skoda sales in Sept 409
Oct 215
And the Fabia, Broomster & Yukki are meant to be the game changers in Oz for Skoda.

Bent6brigade

They would go better in the winter months Captain Nemo because of there massive sponsorship of new Afl side GWS.
There is just to many models of cars for sale in OZ 4 scoda to make inroads,with there dated looks and styling and pricing.
Let’s give them one big tick they appear to be a lot more reliable than big brother veedud and the gooses that drive them,like crappy+rolfmother.

AutoMoto

I think their cars could definitely be priced a little better.

Golfmother

Bit rough like a crummerdore . rough V6 and rough interior .

Skoda will advance past crummers with each new model , take a look at the superb , makes a crummer VE feel like the old VH .

Bent6brigade

Rubbish the VE interior is quality,take a look at Caprise.The VE has a great sound system,comfortable seats,heaps of legroom
Also Australian designed hard plastic that is sun resistant.Not like the cheap plastics used by the fag group.I mean vag group

Poison_Eagle

Don’t bother with this guy. Gets his ass handed to him regularly, disproven all the time and still litters this site with stupidity, lies about cars he’s owned. Must be a little kid or something.

Golfmother

Norman the toxic budgie , another dino driver gasping for breath as his beloved falcoon heads towards its last rites , soon be over , bring on the FWD .

Poison_Eagle

Whatever you reckon you deluded little weasel.

Golfmother

Craprice is dead in the water , why when you can get a 300C , numbers falling off the edge .

A must for fat guys i suppose .

htcs

Meh. The difference is that you can’t get the 1.8 turbo in a Rapid. You can in an Octavia – and that car is a pocket rocket. It’s just a plain pity that all VAG cars seem to have the same instrument cluster and poorly executed cruise control. That’s a shame.

Kyriacosagathocleous

What kills this for me is resale and service costs.skoda dealers are charging $500 for an oil and filter service for some of their other cas. Resale figures remind me of saabs. Buy a 2nd hand one and do the minor services your self if you are considering this.